The architecture

We'll address some key aspects and a technical overview of the technology and architecture first. Chances are good that you have already learned about this information over time. Right, let's step back a few generations and start at Sandy Bridge at 32nm. Sandy Bridge really was a completely new architecture, its successor Ivy Bridge did share a lot of common denominators. When we look at Sandy versus Ivy Bridge, the foremost complicating factor was moving the architecture towards a smaller production node; Ivy Bridge is a 22nm processor series. Haswell then, is a 22nm product yet based on a FinFET process that uses a non-planar transistor that sits around the gate on three sides. Built using a 22nm process, Haswell is the "tick" in Intel's "tick-tock" development cycle, so Ivy Bridge was just a process size shrink from Sandy Bridge's 32nm to 22nm.

Then a jump to 14nm, Broadwell is a Tick in the release schedule to be followed by a Tock, Skylake. For Skylake several things changed, an increasingly more powerful graphics engine and that fabrication shrink to the 14nm node, this allows for an even more power friendly processor. There's another TOCK though, that is Kaby Lake, a respin at 14nm.

Intel Core i7-7700K Processor Key Features

Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0: Dynamically increases the processor frequency up to 4.5 GHz when applications demand more performance. Speed when you need it, energy efficiency when you don’t.

Intel Hyper Threading

Intel Smart Cache: 8MB of shared cache allows faster access to your data by enabling dynamic and efficient allocation of the cache to match the needs of each core, significantly reducing latency to frequently used data and improving performance.

All models will come with the latest revision turbo mode but only the Core i7 series will be capable of handling multiple independent software threads per core, also known as hyper-threading. It's a feature we like very much as it really helps out on peak performance by allowing a processor to execute two different code streams at pretty much the same time.

Microarchitecture

CPU series

Tick or Tock

Fab node

Year Released

Presler/Cedar Mill

Pentium 4 / D

Tick

65 nm

2006

Conroe/Merom

Core 2 Duo/Quad

Tock

65 nm

2006

Penryn

Core 2 Duo/Quad

Tick

45 nm

2007

Nehalem

Core i

Tock

45 nm

2008

Westmere

Core i

Tick

32 nm

2010

Sandy Bridge

Core i 2xxx

Tock

32 nm

2011

Ivy Bridge

Core i 3xxx

Tick

22 nm

2012

Haswell

Core i 4xxx

Tock

22 nm

2013

Broadwell

Core i 5xxx

Tick

14 nm

2014 & 2015 for desktops

Skylake

Core i 6xxx

Tock

14 nm

2015

Kabylake

Core i 7xxx

Tock

14 nm

2016

Cannonlake

Core i 8xxx?

Tick

10 nm

2017

Quite a few processors will be based on Kaby Lake, we focus on desktop, let's have a closer look.

Core i5-7600K and i7-7700K

Both models released are unlocked (multiplier & voltage) quad-core processors based on the aforementioned architecture and supersedes the Core 4000 and 6000 processor range (in design). The Core i7 model has hyper-threading and your OS will see it as an 8-core product. The CPU has 1 MB L2 cache (256 kB per physical core). Then there is an 8MB shared L3 cache. The integrated memory controller remains dual-channel, officially supporting up-to 2400MHz, but we all know how high these puppies can clock. The TDP for this processor is now rated at 91 Watts. The Core i5 model is a fairly similar product, yet clocked a notch slower at a 3.8 GHz base clock and 4.2 GHz Turbo allowance. This processor, as stated, does not have hyper-threading. Also it has slightly less L3 cache at its disposal, 6 MB.

There will be more variants available later this year though (bear in mind that we do not have a final list of supported clock frequencies so the table below will be updated once the numbers get in:

Processor Name

Frequency (GHz)

Cache

C/T

Turbo Boost (GHz)

Intel HD Graphics

Dynamic Frequency (MHz)

Unlocked

USD

Socket 1151 Standard Power (95W)

i7-7700K

4.20

8 MB

4/8

4.50

Next Gen HD Graphics

TBA

Yes

TBA

i5-7600K

3.80

6 MB

4/4

4.20

Next Gen HD Graphics

TBA

Yes

TBA

Socket 1151 Low Power (65W)

i7-7700

3.60

8 MB

4/8

TBA

Next Gen HD Graphics

TBA

No

TBA

i5-7600

3.50

6 MB

4/4

TBA

Next Gen HD Graphics

TBA

No

TBA

i5-7500

3.40

6 MB

4/4

TBA

Next Gen HD Graphics

TBA

No

TBA

i5-7400

3.30

6 MB

4/4

TBA

Next Gen HD Graphics

TBA

No

TBA

Socket 1151 Ultra Low Power (35W)

i7-7700T

2.90

8 MB

4/8

TBA

Next Gen HD Graphics

TBA

No

TBA

i5-7600T

2.70

6 MB

4/4

TBA

Next Gen HD Graphics

TBA

No

TBA

i5-7500T

2.40

6 MB

4/4

TBA

Next Gen HD Graphics

TBA

No

TBA

K - Unlocked

T - Power-optimized lifestyle

The Kaby Lake cache memory consists of a 32 KB L1 Data cache, 32 KB Instruction cache (= 64 KB L1) and then we spot a 256 KB L2 cache per core (1MB total) and then there's a L3 cache that is shared in-between the CPU cores which is 8 MB in total for the Core i7 processors and 6 MB for the Core i5 series. This has been the same for many generation Intel processors in this class. The L3 cache sits in the physical form of a ring-bus. Thus the L3 cache can be used by the processor cores and also the graphics core. You can house the new processors on motherboards with the H270 and Z270 chipset and will be introduced later on other business oriented chipsets as well. The H170/Z170 chipsets are compatible after a motherboard BIOS update. For end consumers like you and me the H series chipset is less performance targeted and comes with better support for HTPC monitor connectivity. The Z series chipset is targeted at performance and enthusiast end users allowing much more tweaking and providing performance features. It also brings USB 3.1, SATA Express and PCIe M.2 SSD connectivity to the platform.

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